William h



(No Model.)

v W. H. KNOX.

PRINT FOR TRANSFER LETTERS.

No. 254,877. r Patented Mar.'14.1882.

N. PETERS. Pmloliibogmphcr. Wishl gion. D. Q

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM I]. KNOX, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES R. ANDERSON, OF SAME PLACE.

PRINT FOR TRANSFER- LETTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,877, dated March 14, 1852. Application filed July 25, 1881, (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. KNOX, of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Prints for Transfer-Letters, of which the following is a specification;

The object of my invention is.to produce means whereby the transfer-letters can be applied to the surface of the article or thing to which they are to be transferred by any person of ordinary capacity with great facility and with perfect accuracy as to position.

My invention enables me to dispense with the employment of skilled artisans in transferring such letters, and also opens a wider field for the employment of transfer-letters.

The nature of my invention will become apparent upon an examination of the following description. In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 represents the t'ace side of a sheet of transfer material containing a portion of the alphabet and those marks which, in connection with the letters, constitute one feature of my invention. Fig. 2 represents the back side of the same sheet, provided with marks which, in connection with the letters on the face side of the same sheet, constitute other features of myinvention. Fig. 3 represents the face, and Fig. 4 the back, of one letter cut from the sheet. Fig. 5 represents a word formed from letters cut from said sheet.

Thesheet of paper or other material upon which the transfer-letters are printed or otherwise formed is designated by the letter K. The letters are put thereon in any suitable manner consistent with enabling them to be tran sferred.

The letters may be of any desired style or description, and be plain or ornamental, asdesired, and of gold or any preferred color. The

letters may be placed in alphabetical or in' any other preferred order, and when desirable a number of each kind may be printed in a group by themselves or with others, and this will appear more particularly desirable in re spect to those letters most often used.

It must be borne inmind that the rules of lettering and the aesthetics of the letterer and tion at right angles to the lines a and s.

the spectator require that the letters should be properly proportioned as to one another, and that the spacing between said letters shall be of certain width, according to the letter used, Thus, for example, the space between F and its adjacent letters will be a fixed amount, and

be less than the space between O and its adjacent letters. The amount of spacing given toeach letter has been fixed by custom, and it is not the object of my invention to change the amount of this spacing, but to enable the merest tyro to place the transfer-letters upon the article or thing which is permanently to carry them, so that the proper space between the letters so transferred shall be present. To enable this object to be carried into effect, on the face side of the sheet I provide the spaces adjacent to the letters with the space-marks m, and also prefer to provide the face side with the horizontal lines a p s. I also provide the back of the sheet with similar space-marks 1n and horizontal lines up 8, the marks on the back being exactly identical in location with 1 those on the face, and the lines on the back being respectively identical in location with those of the front. By the space-marks m the exact space belonging to each letter is indi cated.

' The following is an illustration of the mode of employing my invention: Suppose, for example, the operator desires to make the word fface upon a sign by means of transfer-letters. He takes a sheetof transferletters-as, for example, the one represented in our draw in gs-and cuts the letter F therefrom by cut-, ting the sheet along the line a and the line 8 of the upper row of letters,and along the line a and line 8 of the second row of letters. He' now cuts outthe letter E by cutting the sheet at the marks at on each side of the letter in a direction at light angles to the lines a and s, and in like manner he cuts outthe letters F F, A, and O by cutting the sheet atthemark m on each side of each of said letters in a direcvarnish, sticky wash, or paint to enable the transfer-letter to stick to the sign being now, if necessary, applied thereto, the operator places the face of letter F against the sign at theproper place. He next places theletter A The spacing between them will be correct.

face downward against the sign, being careful to so place the same that the upper edge of that section'of the seat which earriesletter F and the left-hand vertical edge of the back of said section carrying letter A meet and accurately join the right-hand edge of the back of the section carrying theletter E, In like manner theletters G and E are successively added and applied. Afterward these sections of sheets are removed, and the word FACE will be visible upon the sign. The letters will be accurately and correctly located in respect to each other as to horizontal lines, and the The true vertical lines of each letter will be parallel. In this manner any word or words and any ornamental designs, either in connection therewith or with other ornamental designs, can be accurately located and spaced with great facility. All guess-work iu the application thereof is avoided.

Here tofore the application of transfer-letters to make up a word or words arbitrarily chosen after the letters were printed has been unsuccessful, because it was next to impossible for the most skillful painter to transfer them, so that they should occupy proper locations respecting each other as to height, correspondence of vertical lines, and spacing. Myinvention obviates this difficulty and enables a common artisan to correctly apply said transferletters. Thus my invention enables transferletters to be employed in a new fieldviz., that of what is known as lettering/ ""sign-lettering, and decorating various objects-as, for example, wagons, street-cars, omnibuses, glass signs, show-windows,&c. When letters are to beso employed as together to form acurve or curves or arch or arches the lines a and s will be printed or marked on the sheet in curve or curves to correspond with the curve or curves which the letters when placed together to make a word or words conjointly form.

' When desired, the lines m maybe extended vertically in order to afford a better guide to those who find it difficult to cut a short straight line without the latter being already traced out for them.

The marks and lines on the face of the sheet may be omitted when desired, and the letters and spacing be cut out by reference to the marks and lines at the back; but the said marks and lines are preferably present because the one so cutting usually wishes to see the letters while cutting them out. The linep on the face of the sheet is not at all essential and may be omitted on any occasion, leaving a line, as a, at the top of the letters, and a line, as s, at the bottom of the letters.

The horizontal lines n1) 8 may be employed without the marks m, as each of these consti-- tutes a distinct feature of my invention; butI prefer to employ them together,'as affording a more perfect guide for the one applying the transfer-letters.

What I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet carrying on its face side transfer-letters and provided on its back side with the spacingmarks m, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet carrying on its face side transfer-letters and on its back side the spacing-marks m and lines a and 3, straight or curved, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet carryingon its face side transfer-letters and the marks m, and on its back side the marks m, substantially as and for the purposes specified. 4. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet carryingon its face side transfer-letters and the marks m, and on its back side the lines a and s, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet carrying on its face transfer-letters and the marks m, and on its back side the lines a and s and marks m, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet carrying on its face transfer-letters and lines n and s, and on its back side the marks m, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet carrying on its face transfer-letters and lines a and s, and on its back side the marks an and lines a and s, substantially as and for the purposes specified. V

8. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet earryin g on its face transfer-letters and marks m and lines a and s, and on its back side the marks m and the lines it and s, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

f WILLIAM H. KNOX.

Witnesses:

J NO. J. MCCARTHY, BENJ. 0. TRUE. 

